25 years for teen in fatal DUI crash during chase

Jason MeisnerTribune reporter

A teenager pleaded guilty today and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing a Chicago police dispatcher last year in a crash as he was being chased by officers after stealing a vehicle while intoxicated.

In a deal with Cook County prosecutors, Marquis Harrison, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree murder in the death of Marciea Adkins, 42.

Authorities said Harrison had just left a party at about 6 a.m. on July 10, 2011, and was high on Ecstasy, marijuana and vodka when he saw a motorist leave his idling Range Rover in the 100 block of West North Avenue to pay a parking meter.

Harrison jumped into the vehicle and sped off, prosecutors said. A police officer pulled the SUV over after seeing its driver run a red light at Blackhawk Street and Elston Avenue, but during the traffic stop, Harrison allegedly backed into the officer's squad car and almost struck two other officers.

Police pursued Harrison through Bucktown until he ran a stop sign at Hoyne and Armitage avenues and broadsided Adkins' vehicle, according to prosecutors.

Harrison ran from the scene but was arrested a couple of blocks away. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where tests showed his blood-alcohol content was 0.186 percent, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent, prosecutors said.

Harrison, who was 16 at the time, was charged as an adult with murder and burglary to a vehicle. He has been held at Cook County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond since his arrest.

Adkins, a veteran Chicago police dispatcher, was on her way home from her overnight shift at the time of the crash.